In the past several years, there has been an increase in the number of adopted children who wish to discover their birth families. This process has been enhanced by genealogy sites and availability of DNA testing that anyone can do. For some, this has been a positive experience. For others, they have discovered some very troubling information.
This is true of those of us who are adopted into the family of God. We will discuss this blessing in a moment, but to fully appreciate the benefit of this adoption, we need to discover a bit about our spiritual “birth family”.
In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we are told that we are not by nature children of God. (John 1:13). However, we do not have to search far to discover what our origins looked like. We begin in Ephesians 2:1-3, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (ESV) John 8:44, You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (NIV)
This is not a great pedigree. At birth, we are sons of disobedience, children of wrath, and our father is the devil who is a murderer and liar. There is nothing good about this heritage. We need to be rescued out of this mess.
Here, in this list of salvation blessings in Ephesians, we learn that God has ‘adopted’ those who believe in Jesus Christ as his ‘sons’. This means that he has legally restored to us the identity and the rights of sonship. John 1:12, Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (NIV) We see the amazing benefits of adoption in Romans 8:14-17, For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (NIV)
We will consider some of these benefits in later posts, however, I want us to grasp just how amazing our adoptive family is. First century families were often faced with the need to care for children whose parents passed away. They would simply move in and incorporate themselves into the life of their new family. The word used for this process is translated into English as adoption. However, there was a more formal process where the receiving family would make the children legally theirs. This has a different Greek word which we also translate into English as adoption. The difference between the two adoptions is significant. In the first, the children were fed and cared for, but would never inherit anything from the adoptive family. It was more like what we would call a foster parent. In the second situation, the children became full members of the family with all the rights and privileges that come with this position. This is the word used of us in our new family with God as Father. We no longer have the shame of our original family but enjoy the benefits of our new.
Next week will are going to dig a little deeper into what this means, both now and for eternity.